HAMMOND, La. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular season champion and two-time reigning SLC Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team's rally fell just short in an 8-7 loss to UIW in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park.
Southeastern fell to 44-12 overall and 24-3 in Southland Conference play, while UIW finished the regular season with a 32-19 overall mark and 17-10 in league play.
The top-seeded Lions will host the Hammond bracket next Thursday through Sunday at North Oak Park. Southeastern will be joined by fourth-seeded UIW, fifth-seeded Lamar and eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Southeastern will open the double-elimination bracket with a 4 p.m. contest versus TAMU-CC Thursday at 4 p.m.
UIW built a 6-0 lead early, but the Lions fought back with a 13-hit attack.
Chloe Magee led SLU with four hits, while
Shenita Tucker and
Brilee Ford added two apiece.
The Cardinals took the lead off Southeastern starter
Bre Clark (1-1) in the top of the first inning, plating two runs to take an early 2-0 lead. A grand slam by Madison Dorrow gave UIW a 6-0 cushion.
Southeastern answered back with five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Magee tripled in the frame's first run, then scored on an RBI single by
Cydnee Schneider.
Ka'Lyn Watson tripled home two more runs and scored on an RBI ground out by Ford to cut the UIW lead to 6-5.
UIW added to its advantage on a two-run home run by Victoria Altamirano in the top of the fourth. An RBI double by
Maria Detillier in the bottom of the frame cut the lead to 8-6, then the Lions took advantage of a UIW error to cut the lead to 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Southeastern would get no closer, however. SLU loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, but UIW reliever Bella Mitchell forced Detillier to fly out to deep centerfield to earn her third save and allow the Cardinals to avoid the sweep.
All of this week's Hammond Bracket games will be televised on ESPN+ with
Tyler Thomas and Casey Gisclair on the call.
Southland Conference Softball Championships – Hammond Bracket – North Oak Park – April 30-May 3, 2026 (All games on ESPN+)
Thursday, April 30
Game 1 – No. 4 UIW vs. No. 5 Lamar, 1 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 1 Southeastern vs. No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 1 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 1 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 3
Game 7 – Game 4 Winner, vs. Game 5 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7 is only necessary if Game 5 winner also wins Game 6
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on X and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/clear.
